Morning versus evening intake of creatine in elite female handball players

Abstract

A great deal of evidence has been gathered on the use of creatine as an ergogenic supple-ment. Recent studies show greater benefits when creatine ingestion is performed close in time to training, but few studies tackle the way that circadian rhythms could influence creatine consump-tion. The aim of this study was therefore to observe the influence circadian rhythms exert on sports performance after creatine supplementation. Our method involved randomly assigning fourteen women players of a handball team into two groups in a single-blind study: one that consumed the supplement in the morning and one that consumed it in the evening, with both groups following a specific training program. After twelve weeks, the participants exhibited a decreased fat percentage, increased body weight and body water, and improved performance, with these results being very similar in the two groups. It is therefore concluded that, although circadian rhythms may influence performance, these appear not to affect creatine supplementation, as creatine is stored intramuscu-larly and is available for those moments of high energy demand, regardless of the time of day.